Chapter 136
Two months later, the police will come looking for this pension.
And, deciding that the pension owner who provided the location is involved with drugs, they will begin an investigation.
They will become even more suspicious because those drug-addled bastards apparently told the pension owner that he could do whatever he wanted to them.
Of course, there are no serious charges against him, but rumors will spread in the process and affect the pension's business.
I only rented out the pension without knowing they were crazy bastards, so why should an innocent person have to suffer?
Honestly, that was hard to accept.
"Huh. Over there?"
"Yes."
"Shouldn't we report this to the police right away?"
"It would be nice, but if the police in this area make a move, word will get out."
"Don't tell me they have an accomplice among the police?"
"Yes."
There is someone inside Gangneung Police Station who takes their money and turns a blind eye.
"If we call the police now, the local station will handle it, and if that happens, they won't gather here, will they?"
"Ugh. Then what do we do?"
"The best thing would be to call someone else in Seoul."
I picked up the phone.
A little while later, Prosecutor Gu Nam-cheol answered.
-Oh my! Is that you, Teacher!
"Haha. How have you been? The thing is..."
I told him what I had seen earlier.
Prosecutor Gu listened gravely, then sighed.
-They say there are a lot of insane bastards among the police...
"They say a few loaches can muddy clear water, after all."
-I see. In any case, if that's happening, it would be better for me to go there myself.
"If possible, I'd appreciate it if you could bring some personnel with you."
-Yes. We can say we're going to the pension for a getaway. A team-building event, so to speak.
He would bring along the prosecutors who were currently available.
And while he was at it, he would bring investigators, too.
"I'll pay the travel expenses."
"Huh? You will, Chairman?"
"The pension owner here is a friend of mine. And he's the captain who takes us out on his boat. I need to do at least this much to protect him."
-As civil servants, we'd feel uncomfortable accepting more than 30,000 won.
Chairman Han Jun-ho burst out laughing at Prosecutor Gu's words.
"There are ways to work around that, so don't worry. You needn't worry, Prosecutor."
Indeed, the chairman would know more about things like this than I did.
Then let's trust him and leave it to him.
.
.
.
For now, those bastards were coming, but we might as well enjoy ourselves.
While Chairman Han Jun-ho and the bodyguards busily prepared the barbecue, Han Yu-na and I went for a walk.
"Is it really all right to leave this to the bodyguards?"
The bodyguards were preparing barbecue instead of doing their bodyguard work.
"Haha. It's fine. We're getting bonuses."
One of the bodyguards who had been setting up the table for quite some time said confidently.
You couldn't argue with a bonus.
Apparently, the bonus was quite substantial, and the entire security team had been clamoring to go.
When I looked into this man's future, I saw that he would use the bonus he received this time to buy a new tablet and phone—things he hadn't been able to afford until now.
Capitalism was always right, after all.
"You must come around here often, Ms. Yu-na?"
"Yes. I came here with my family when my brother was still here."
Before her brother went to America, the three of them—their father, brother, and herself—had come here several times for family trips.
"It was really nice back then. I hated going to school, and my brother..."
".....?"
"Come to think of it, I don't think my brother liked coming here very much."
Going to school had merely been something she did because it was necessary, and for Han Yu-na, who had not had a single friend, coming here had been a chance to clear her head.
But for her brother, it must have felt like he was simply trapped in the countryside.
"My brother was good at getting along with people. Unlike me."
"It would have been better if the people he associated with had been good people."
"I know..."
Han Yu-na let out a small sigh.
"If my brother had been okay, I wouldn't have had to go this far."
I would have only been in charge of the hotel.
If that had been the case, I wouldn't have been this busy.
Han Yu-na spoke in a small, almost muttering voice.
"If that had been the case, I would have had more time to spend with you, Noah..."
"How much time did you want to spend together?"
"I wish we'd been together at least six days a week."
That might be a little much.
"We could go get ice cream together, play games together, go to a comic-book café together... and go to an indoor trampoline park together."
She had been speaking while counting on her fingers, but suddenly shut her mouth.
Then she spoke cautiously.
"You're the only one I have, but I'm not the only one you have. It's selfish of me, isn't it?"
"Right."
"Huh? Aren't you supposed to deny that here?"
"Come on. What's the point of telling an obvious lie?"
"Ahaha..."
She let out a dry laugh.
It wasn't because she found it funny; she was merely laughing because she didn't know what else to do.
"Hong Si-yeon is a good person, right?"
"Yes."
"I think so, too. Actually, before, I... How should I put it? I admired her."
"You did?"
"Yes. She had things I didn't have."
Han Yu-na didn't have the sociability or the ability to win the affection of many people.
Han Yu-na, who had always been blunt and focused only on her own work, had envied her.
"Si-yeon feels the same way."
"Huh?"
"She also envied your steadfastness and innocence, Ms. Yu-na."
This was something I had seen.
She stared blankly at me, then gave a faint smile.
"Thank you, Noah. You always say things that give me strength."
"It's only natural. We're friends."
"Friends... Yes. Because we're friends."
Han Yu-na smiled warmly.
After we finished our walk and returned to the pension, preparations for the barbecue were well underway.
I offered to help, but everyone told me to just rest.
"Come over here and have a beer!"
"Yes, sir."
Chairman Han Jun-ho, who was sitting beside the cooler, handed me a can of beer.
It was incredibly cold, perhaps because it had been sitting with the ice.
"I saw earlier that people were going into that pension over there."
"Really?"
"Yes. I couldn't tell for sure because they were wearing sunglasses and masks, but..."
"That's actor Yoo In-se."
The middle-aged bodyguard beside us spoke.
"Actor Yoo In-se? He's an actor whose films have drawn ten million moviegoers, isn't he?"
"Yes. He's an actor who just turned thirty, famous for his clean and upright image. He's popular even with our security team."
Someone like that had come all the way here for a drug party.
The middle-aged bodyguard sighed.
"My daughter was a fan of his..."
"Haha. They say you can know the depth of ten feet of water, but not the depth of a person's heart."
"Oh. Someone else is coming."
A luxurious foreign car came to a stop.
A woman wearing a hat got out.
"Huh? That person..."
"Do you know her?"
"Yes. She used to cause a scene at the hotel where I worked. Her name is Lee Haru, the youngest granddaughter of the chairman of Namhyung Group..."
"Oh. That brat?"
I'd seen her on the news several times.
She was the one who had been taken to the prosecutors' office several times on suspicion of drug use, only to be released after being cleared of the charges and posting bail.
And I heard she had been absolutely terrible about abusing her power, too.
"She'd been quiet lately, so I guess this is what she's been doing here."
Her eyes were sharp.
She seemed to hold some personal grudge.
"...We were in the same class in high school."
"Hmm. Is that so?"
"Yes. And..."
She hesitated for a moment, then looked at me.
A deep sigh.
"She was leading the people who ostracized me."
"Ah."
She had more than enough personal resentment.
"Then we should crush them completely this time."
"Can we do that?"
-Bzzz!!
Just then, my phone rang.
It was a call from Prosecutor Gu.
He said they would be setting out soon and would probably arrive at night.
They were leaving under the guise of a team-building event, and all preparations to make emergency arrests had been completed.
So they wouldn't miss them, and he told me not to worry.
Looking at his future through the video call, I could see that there definitely wouldn't be any problems.
The crazy bastards throwing a drug party heedlessly at someone else's pension didn't even dream that they'd be caught.
"Can we?"
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Lee Haru has been caught several times before, hasn't she? Back then, she got out after being cleared of the charges and posting bail..."
"She'll have a hard time this time."
Even the judges who had protected her had shaken their heads, so there was no way out for her.
"Ahaha... Would you call it divine retribution?"
"You could look at it that way. Ah. Someone else is coming."
The fools throwing themselves into this ant hell were gathering.
I watched them, then turned my head.
Rather than look at something ugly, let's look at pretty Han Yu-na.
"...Wh-why are you looking at me like that?"
"Because you're pretty."
"......!!"
Han Yu-na hurriedly moved away, her face red.
Watching this, Chairman Han Jun-ho burst out laughing.
"Hahaha. Noah."
"Yes?"
"You'd better watch yourself on the way home tonight."
"Haha. Don't worry."
I was always prepared for danger.
Anyway, as we continued enjoying ourselves, the barbecue was ready before we knew it.
"I prepared some 1++-grade Wagyu."
"Oooooh!!"
Beef sizzling on the grill.
This upjin-sal melts right in my mouth!!
"Come on, everyone, have some."
"We're on duty..."
"Come on. Don't we all work to live and eat? Chairman bought plenty of meat, too. Don't worry and dig in."
"But we're going to eat this tomorrow, too..."
"We'll catch plenty tomorrow, so don't worry."
Besides, we're going to buy shellfish and other seafood at the market.
And how could we eat beef two days in a row?
We needed to eat pork, too.
"W-well, in that case..."
They refused several times, but Chairman Han Jun-ho gave permission with a smile, and in the end, the bodyguards ate with us, too.
As expected, things like this tasted better when shared.
It was around the time we'd finished grilling meat while laughing and chatting, and even had marshmallows for dessert.
It seemed the people at the pension over there had started drinking, too, because loud voices began carrying over.
That's right. Have a good time.
I raised my beer can and toasted those who would be enjoying themselves for quite some time.
May you properly savor your last pleasure in society.